You’ve never heard of Dennis Overstreet? That was the original carriage trade store to the stars. Randall Grahm famously worked there and got inspired to change his life path. Lots of rumors about counterfeit DRC back in the day. Really quite infamous here.
I VOW TO NEVER DRIVE TO RALEIGH AND BUY WINE FROM THIS STORE!! Who’s with me??? ![[soap.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7ea1fffd3ef237e8f19d17a83270ad8452218ca.gif "soap"){kind=small}
My wife and I spent a fun afternoon in this store a couple years ago. Hung out, tasted some wines and enjoyed a nice conversation with a gentleman working there. It’s just a few doors down from Spago and close to the Beverly Wilshire, where we were staying. However, I would never have heard of it if i hadn’t stumbled upon it while walking back from lunch to our hotel.
Sad story whenever a store that has been in business for that long “shuts” it’s doors, but I would be willing to bet there is more to the story than what the previous owner posted on his web-site…
I think it’s an age thing: Dennis was the Gary V meets Donald Trump of wine back in the 80’s. I knew about him and was constantly reading quotes and exploits of him (and not just in the wine press) when I was still working in NOLA and had never BEEN to LA.
A little google searching shows this…
from Jan 2012
Ridgewood Wine & Beer Co., which will open Feb. 1, is the brainchild of Ryan Elliott, Patrick King and Jason Kaczor. Together the three boast more than 30 years of experience in the wine and beer industry. Some loyal TBJ readers might recall Elliott as a previous store manager at Wake Forest’s Wine 101, which was part of Triangle Business Journal’s Project Survival series back in 2009.
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2012/01/new-wine-shop-to-open-in-raleigh.html
And I don’t understand why Nathan S. posted his post with names redacted when in the actual blog/announcement/whatever you want to call it on their own web site lists all the names. http://winemerchantraleigh.com/blog/loyal-customer-email/ ![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}
As was the practice in the past and in anticipation of continuing our business in the Ridgewood Shopping Center, we contacted the landlord, Andrew Techet, in late May to discuss a new lease for the upcoming 5 year period. We were assured in June and again in August by Mr. Techet that there was no trouble with the new lease for the Raleigh location. However, on October 10th we received the shocking news that our lease would not be renewed at the end of the year. This totally unexpected news came in a letter at our busiest time of the year and with such short notice that we had no time to try to relocate and continue to operate the Raleigh store.
We immediately advised our three Raleigh store managers, Jason Kaczor, Patrick King, and Ryan Elliott of the lease being terminated.
And this helps a little to explain things…
…This much is not in dispute:
Bud Saylor owned The Wine Merchant in Ridgewood Shopping Center for 30 years. In December, he posted a notice on the shop saying it was closing because the store’s lease had not been renewed. Inventory was moved to The Wine Merchant’s Cary location, which is managed by Kurt Saylor, Bud’s son.
Elliott, Kaczor and King, who were managers at the Raleigh store, filed papers with the Secretary of State’s office Oct. 6 to form a limited liability company called Ridgewood Wine & Beer.
After that there’s disagreement.
Bud Saylor, in an interview from his home in Asheville last month, said he received a letter from his landlord, Andrew Techet, on Oct. 15, informing him that the lease was not being renewed. Saylor acknowledged that sales had slowed during the downturn but said he had asked Techet in a meeting in August whether the store was in trouble. He said Techet told him, “When you get in trouble, I’ll let you know.”
The trouble, Saylor said, was that because sales were down, the amount the store paid the landlord in overages also was down. In most shopping centers, stores pay a monthly rent and a percentage of any sales over an agreed-upon amount (the overage).
Techet, in a phone interview, would not talk specifically about what happened with The Wine Merchant, saying only, “The decision was one we took very seriously. We felt it was in the best interest of the shopping center.” …
Elliott said the three had once talked to Saylor about buying the store and that they dreamed of owning a shop one day. When it became apparent that sales were declining and that the lease was not going to be renewed, he said, the three started thinking about their own futures.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/10/1843371/preview-with-beer-tasting-tonight.html#storylink=cpy